Aristotle followed Plato, was his student, in fact. And he joined his teacher is asserting the music was a necessary part of one’s education because it teaches one how to use leisure nobly and it forms a certain character in the soul of the participant. He says, There are perhaps four customary subjects of education, reading and writing, gymnastics, music, and fourth, with some people, drawing; reading and writing and drawing being taught as being …
Author: Scott Postma
Throughout the Classical period and all the way up until the Age of Enlightenment, prerational knowledge was not only viewed as legitimate but essential to “the psychosomatic dimensions of the human being.”((James Taylor, Poetic Knowledge, 16)) This is why Plato, through his character Socrates, asserts the need to regulate the education of the guardians. Since character was the chief goal of education in Greek thought, it would be especially important to monitor the music (i.e., …
This is Episode 31 of the Consortium Podcast, an academic audio blog of Kepler Education. In this episode, we announce the new lineup of podcasts for the upcoming year. The Consortium Podcast is where listeners can listen into engaging academic conversations with teachers, authors, and professors engaged in Classical Christian Education. The Everlasting Education podcast will continue in same vein as the earlier episodes of the Consortium podcast with Scott Postma and Joffre Swait taking …
In a recent post, Seth Godin wrote about the misconception of quality being the result of effort. He states, Quality is defined as consistently meeting spec. A measurable promise made and kept. Effort is what happens when we go beyond our normal speed. When we dig deep and exert physical or emotional labor and focus on something that is out of the ordinary. Effort is the opposite of coasting. Often we’re taught that quality is …
Classical Education is not, preeminently, of a specific time or place. It stands instead for a spirit of inquiry and form of instruction concerned with the development of style through language and of conscience through myth. The key word here is inquiry. -David V. Hicks, Norms & Nobility …
In the modern world, memory is often disparaged as unnecessary, a distraction or hindrance to progress even. Thus, the practice of rote memorization in education is frequently classified as outdated and archaic. The reasoning goes something like this: If we have Google, we don’t need to fill our heads with long lists of information when we can just access infinite catalogs of information immediately—and from nearly anywhere! There is also the ubiquitous and cliché assertion …